Quick Dal Makhani

The final dish
As seen on
Cookie + Kate
Total Time
1 hour
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
45 minutes
Rating
4.7 out of 5 stars
(90)

Ingredients

4 servings
  • 2 tablespoons avocado oil or extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
  • 1 jalapeño pepper, seeds and membranes removed, minced
  • 1 ½ teaspoons Frontier Co-op garam masala
  • ½ teaspoon Frontier Co-op ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon Frontier Co-op ground coriander
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes (preferably the fire-roasted variety), with their juices
  • 1 cup uncooked black lentils (also called beluga lentils), picked over for debris
  • 1 can (15 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained, or 1 ½ cups cooked kidney beans
  • 5 cups water
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice, plus additional lime wedges for serving
  • Optional (for additional creaminess): half-and-half, or regular or light coconut milk
  • Chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish
  • Suggested accompaniments: cooked brown basmati rice or toasted naan
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Preparation

Chef’s notes

Make it dairy free/vegan:
Use coconut milk instead of half-and-half, or use none at all.
Change it up:
While untraditional, I also love this recipe with regular curry powder instead of garam masala.
Lentil note:
This recipe is not designed for traditional urad dal (whole black gram lentils), which take forever to cook. Standard lentils (the brownish/greenish kind) will work in place of the black lentils. Just keep an eye on them, since they may be done cooking about 5 to 10 minutes sooner.
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